The personal character of George Fox was, in many respects, a lofty one. In self-sacrifice, earnestness, and purity, he was a model. His intellectual powers were not of a very high order. His doctrine of the "inner light" was elaborated by Robert Barclay (q.
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V.) with a clearness and method of which Fox was in- capable. Fox carried this doctrine, and also his ab- horrence of "a hireling ministry,'' to almost absurd ex- tremes. " But, amid all his extremes and obscurities, the substance of George Fox's 'testimony' was a truth of which every generation is in danger of forgetful- ness, and of which no generation ever so much needed to be reminded as this, namely, ' that tlie kingdom of God is not meat and drink' — not forms and ceremo- nies— not creeds, however sound — not organizations, however efficient — ' but riiihteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost' " (Christian Times). Sir James Mackintosh calls Fox's Journal "one of the most ex- traordinary and instructive narratives in the world, which no reader of competent judgmsnt can peruse without revering the virtue of the writer, pardoning his self-delusion, and ceasing to smile at his peculiari- I ties" {Works, London, 1851, p. 362). See Collection of i Christian Epistles writ/en hij George Fox (London, 1698, i 2 vols, fol.); Journals of George Fox (London, 1691; j Leeds, 1836, 2 vols.) ; Works of George Fox (Philadel. ■ 8 vols) ; Sewell, Histnri/ ofthe^Qiiakers (1795, 2 vols.) ; | Neal, JHstor)/ of the Purit .?is, Harper's edition, ii, 118; { Janney, Lifj of George Fox, trilh Dissertations, etc. j (Philadelphia, 1853, 8vo) ; iMarsh, Life of George Fox (London, 1847, 8vo) ; Westminster Review, xlvii, 371.
Fox, John, author of the Book of Martyrs, was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1517, was educated at Brazenose, Oxford, and was elactcd a fellow of Mag- dalsn College in 1543. In his youth he showed a tal- ent for poetry, and wrote several Latin comedies, the subjects taken from the Scriptures. One of them, De Chrido Triumphante, printed in 1551, was translated into English by Richard Da}', with the title Christ Jesus Triumphant, tcherein is described the alorinus triumph and conquest of Christ over sin, death, and the law, etc. (1579, 1607, 1672). He embraced the principles of the Iteformation, and for that cause was expelled from his fellowship in 1545 (according to Wood, Atlien. Oxon., he resigned it), for having espoused the Reformation, and, till he was restored to it bj' Edward Vl, he subsisted by acting as a tutor, first to the family of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Cliarlecote Park, and afterwards to the chil- dren of the earl of Surrey. In 1556 he was ordained deacon b}' Bishop Ridley. During the reign of Mary he sought an asylum at Basle. Returning on the accession of Elizabeth (1559), he was taken into the house of the duke of Norfolk, and Cecil obtained for him a prebend in the cathedral of Salisbury in 1563. He died in 1587. His great work is the Acts and Mon- uments of the Church, first published in 1563, usually known by the name of Fox's Book of Martyrs, the merits and demerits of which have been a source of violent dispute between Protestant and Catholic writsrs; but no faults, beyond unimportant mistakes, have been detected in it. To the credit of Fox it must be recorded, that he strenuoush% though vainlv, en- deavored to prevail upon Elizabeth not to disgrace herself by carrying into effect the sentence which, in 1575, condemned two Baptists to the flames as heretics. The best edition of the Martyrs is Acts and Monuments of Matters most special and memorable happening in the Church, or Acts and .]fonuments of Martyrs, with addi- tions, etc. (London, 1784, 9th ed. 3 vols, fob); the latest are Fox's Acts and Monuments, new edition, with a Life of the Martyrologist, and Vindication of the Work, by the Rev. Geo. Townsend (Lond. 1843-49, 8 vols. 8vo), and a still better edition by ^Nlendham and Pratt, 8 vols. 8vo (Lond. 1853 sq.). There is an American re- print in one large volume (New York, roj'al 8vo, p. 1082), revised by Rev. M. H. Seymour.
Fox, Richard, bishop of Winchester, and the founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, was born at Grantham, Lincolnshire, of hmnlile parentage, and educated at Boston school and Magdalen College, Ox- ford. Through the friendship of Morton, bishop of
Elj', he was brought to the notice of the earl of Rich- mond, who, when he became king (Henry VI i), made Fox a privy councillor, bishop of Exeter, employed him on several embassies, then transferred him to the see of Durham, and finally to that of Winchester. Fox evinced his appreciation of learning b}' founding Corpus Christi College, Oxford, with two lectures for Greek and Latin, and by establishing several free schools. He died in 1528, and was buried in Win- cliester Catliedral. He wrote The Contemplacyon of Synners (Lond. 1499, 4to) ; — Letter to Cardinal Wolsey. — Allibone, Dictionary of Authors, s. v.; Rose, New Gen. Biog. Diet, vii, 428; Wood, Athenas Oxonienses; Chalmers, Biog. Diet (J. W. M.)
Fox, Winiani Johnson, an English Unitarian minister, and also a politician, was born at Uggleshall Farm, near \\'rentham, Sutlulk, in 1786, the son of a small farmer. In youth he gave promise of talent, and was dedicated to the Christian ministry, and studied at Homerton College, then under the direction of Dr. Pye Smith. He soon abandoned the orthodox Independents, and became first a Unitarian, and later "a deistical heresiarch, who preached more on politics than on religion." His chapel at Finsbury Square was filled by auditors attracted bj' his eloquence iind his spirit of philanthro])y. Politics at last became more attractive to him tiian jircaching, and in 1847 he entered Parliament, in which he held a seat for Old- liam until 1862, wlien failing health compelled him to resign. He died June 3, 1864. He was a man of lit- •erary tastes, and was a frequent contributor to the Westminster Eeview and to the Retrospective Review. His peculiar theological views are set forth in his Re- ligious Ideas (Lond. 1849). He also published Lectures on Morali'y (1836, 8vo). These, with other writings of his, are collected in Memorial Edition of the Works of W. J. Fox (Lond. 1865, 2 vols. 8vo).